Category: Uncategorized

Can’t find the link, but Mr. Franken was running off at the mouth the other day, as usual, crying out about the need for the American left to fight this and fight that. And yet he still hasn’t said a word about fighting ME, unfortunately.

If anyone has Mr. Franken’s email, do let me know and we’ll see if we can get a direct answer from him with regards to my little challenge.

Reader TT asks: Do you ever find your libertarian views of personal freedom conflicting with the idea of the Kingdom of God, or the Kingship of Christ in our lives as Christians?

No, I really don’t. The way I see it, God has the ability to force us to behave however He might like. And yet, He doesn’t. He says, look, here’s My Son. He’s the only way to Me and My Kingdom, but I’m not going to have him pick you up by the scruff of the neck and drag your butt over here, even though I’d really like to do that. Your freedom is so important to me that I’m going to leave the decision completely up to you, even though it breaks My heart to know that a lot of you are going to blow Me off.

Is that characterization in accordance with Scripture? I think so. And if so, does it sound more like the view of a Democrat, a Republican or a Libertarian deity.

I am free to do whatever I want. But if I want to please God, then I must choose what He says is right. No one ever said that freedom was without consequences, in fact, Jesus Christ said quite the opposite. The wages of sin are death. To argue that this is not a real choice is simply stupid, as all you have to do is look around you to see men and women making terrible, self-destructive choices every single day. The fact that the choice should be glaringly obvious to anyone with a brain doesn’t mean that it isn’t real.

In addition to the bizarre problems I’ve been having with my wireless card – it works when the loader says FAIL and doesn’t work when it says PASS – a friend of mine has now had grub eat his new Linux partitions and the boot loader can’t find anything but his old Windows XP partitions. I’m sticking with RH9 for my work machines for the nonce, and I’m going to give both SUSE and Mandrake 9.2 a whirl on Guinea Pig, she of the broken USB interface.

OS News expresses the opinion that Fedora Core 1 was released sooner than it should have been. From what I’ve seen as a new Linux user, I would tend to agree.

Marine DH writes: “Being a former Marine from the “Old Corps” (before kevlar, humvees, and “sensitivity training”), I concur with your contentions completely. It is sad that we are allowing hollywood to cultivate society in believing that any woman can beat any man. The “Women in Combat” issue has always been one of my pet peeves, and will continue to be until this nation wakes up and recognizes the error of its ways. I’m sure you have witnessed the plethora of info on the issue (both pro and con). There may be one absolutely stellar piece on this subject that you may or may not be aware of. I came across… this essay titled Women in Combat: Exploring the Issues by Rev. Leroy Vogel, Chaplain, US Navy (Retired). Being a marine, I felt an immediate affinity because marine chaplains are US Navy. This piece is an absolute gem. Probably the best essay on the current issue that I have come across so far.

What I find even more fascinating with Fr. Keefe’s dialogs, is his introduction of John Stuart Mill. Probably one of the original earlier feminists of the mid 19th century. (a man no less) What you begin to realize here is the direct connection of the issue of “women in combat” to pure (neo)liberalism. “Women in combat” is simply the epitome of the entire egalitarian movement. This really illustrates the entire elitists mind-set, and their convoluted understanding of liberty. That is, for them, liberty is for the “elite”; and slavery is for the common man to be so grateful to them to be led to the “way”. Now you begin to understand why elitists in power when they pass laws for “the governed”, but exempt themselves from these same laws.”

Good points throughout, to be sure, with only one minor omission The concepts of women in combat and an elite beyond the laws guiding society were developed long before John Stuart Mill was pushing the idea. You’ll find both notions articulated explicitely in Plato’s Republic, and I’ll even be touching briefly on the latter point in next week’s column on atheism.

Email from my Marine readers is always in-depth, thoughtful and articulate. Doesn’t surprise me in the least.

AT writes again: Why is it when its about sex, men seem to only reap the benefits and none of the consequences – the burden of the female sex, apparently. What nazis perceived to be a deadly enemy was pure, unadulterated brainwashing – kind of like men that think that women have abortions to get promotions and orgasms….. Are your parents like this to, or did you join a cult? I am just curious.

Let’s just count the flaws:

1. Yes, pregnancy is the burden of the female sex. This is news to you? Did you miss health class?

2. By AT’s absurd fairness-based logic, unless a man has the equal right to rip a baby out of his impregnated lover’s womb and kill it, he should not be held responsible for the child.

3. Yes, the National Socialists brainwashed the German population into believing that Jews were not humans, in much the same way that the murderous feminist movement has brainwashed a portion of the American population into believing that an unborn child is not a human.

4. Most women get abortions simply because they don’t wish to deal with the hassle of a pregnancy. And while a pregnancy is inarguably a physical and emotional strain, the abortionettes can’t even argue that the decision to kill the baby has anything to do with the burden of raising the child, since adoption is a perfectly reasonable alternative. Bringing side issues such as rape and health of the mother is irrelevant, since only a tiny percentage of abortions have anything to do with either. In any event, we don’t kill the children of criminals, so the fact that a child is the product of a rape is no justification for taking an innocent human life.

5. There are millions of people across the country who believe that killing babies, born or unborn, is murder. The fact that AT thinks it is necessary to be a member of a cult to believe this just shows how far removed from reality or any sense of morality she is.

I wonder how long the abortionettes would hold to their position that an unborn baby is simply an inhuman mass of tissue if someone started taking a baseball bat to the bellies of pregnant women who have supported abortion rights. Because, by abortionette logic, that’s nothing more than a simple case of battery, after all. Not even a felony. No wonder the Connor and Laci Peterson case empties their intestines.

We think we’re better than Nazi Germany, because we haven’t killed 6 million Jews. We’ve only murdered 40 million babies. Future civilizations will not only judge us, it will despise us more than we loathe Nazi Germany.

Hurray! ESPN delenda est!

Reader HR writes: As a Christian who remains staunchly in favor of our involvement in Iraq, I do want to say that I think you missed the point when you said:”My opinion on the optimal way to wage war on Iraq should no more be considered a Christian position than is my opinion on the likelihood of the Minnesota Vikings finishing 8-8 this season.” Many think that Jesus told us to be pacifistic, whereas most will agree that he did not instruct us to shun athletic prognostication, however worldly that might be. So your two examples aren’t equal, and a stronger case can be made that Jesus would have us oppose war.My own view is that Jesus told us unequivocally to love our neighbors, and I can think of nothing I’d want more, if I were an Iraqi living under Sadam, than for someone to come and free me and my family. I’m glad we could do unto others what I’d want them to do for me.

Of course, Jesus also said that there would be wars without mentioning anything about trying to stop them. But the basic point remains, since nations are not individuals and so Christian principles cannot always be applied to them. Still, I agree that there is a very strong case to be made for the war on Iraq from the “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” perspective. I know if I was living under totalitarian rule, I too would desperately pray for an army of liberation, however flawed its motives. An excellent point.

AT writes: GIVE ME A BREAK… why do you think the statement “runs/throws/hits like a girl” IS an insult. How many women athletes out there could kick YOUR ass? Many, I am sure. Men create these hackneyed phrases to keep women down in every sense. To run, throw or hit like a girl is not in and of itself an insult. It is our society – and specifically men – who make it such. If not – why don’t you put your money where your mouth is and pitch yourself up against some solid female athletes? I am sure you would be the one who ‘throws/runs/hits’ like a girl. Perhaps we should change that last part to throws/hits/runs like a close-minded right wing mania instead?

How many? Zero. I’m a former full-contact fighter and NCAA D1 sprinter. My bench max is 325 pounds. Only Marion Jones or the late Flo-Jo would stand the slightest chance of lasting more than 30 seconds in the ring or the back alley. Unless you have plenty of rounds under your belt, you can’t possibly understand the fullness of how being weaker and slower always equals being toast.

Put my money where my mouth is? Okay, I’ll be happy to meet any woman who’s interested in a full-contact match and willing to put up $1,000. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d beaten down a woman.

See, principles do matter. If you know the truth, then STAND YOUR GROUND.

VDH is always thought-provoking. Now that Dreher’s at the DMN, he and Nordlinger are my favorite NRO writers. I’m definitely picking up Rippes of Battle this winter.